Bosses at beleaguered Royal Mail’s parent company see doubled pay and bonuses

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  • Post last modified:23 June 2026
Bosses at beleaguered Royal Mail’s parent company see doubled pay and bonuses

In spite of profits for the Royal Mail’s parent company dropping by 20%, chief executive Martin Seidenberg has more than tripled his ‘earnings’ for the year. The International Distribution Services (IDS) boss took home £2.1m in the year to 31 March 2025, which shot up to £7m this year. Likewise, his fellow directors raked in a combined £9.8m this year, up from £4.2m the previous year. Meanwhile, the Royal Mail’s operating profits dropped from £198m to £96m in the same period. IDS blamed the rise in the minimum wage and national insurance contributions. Back in March, Parliament summoned Royal Mail bosses…

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Private water company fined record £2m over hospitalising parasite outbreak

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  • Post last modified:9 June 2026
Private water company fined record £2m over hospitalising parasite outbreak

One privately-owned water company has been fined almost £2m after it was found that its water supply was infested with the dangerous parasite cryptosporidium. The outbreak affected Brixham in Devon. The private utility firm was sentenced to this record fine for a drinking water offence at Exeter Magistrates’ Court. The prosecution was brought by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI). The privately-owned firm plead guilty to supplying water unfit for human consumption at an earlier hearing, offering a “full and unreserved apology”. Four people were hospitalised out of an astonishing 140 confirmed cases of sickness and diarrhoea during the 54-day incident around…

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British company responsible for California chemical leak is building F-35 parts for Israel

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  • Post last modified:9 June 2026
British company responsible for California chemical leak is building F-35 parts for Israel

The military contractor responsible for a huge chemical leak in southern California is also manufacturing parts for F-35 jets for Israel. A 7,000-gallon chemical tank ruptured and threatened to explode at the GKN Aerospace plant in Garden Grove, California, last week. It forced over 50,000 people to evacuate. Crucially, GKN is a British engineering company, headquartered in Birmingham. The tank contains thousands of gallons of methyl methacrylate. This is a highly volatile and flammable substance used to make plastic. Only recently, it was deemed at risk of a major spillage or an explosion. Garden Grove is a predominantly working-class and immigrant city…

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Private water company leaves thousands dry amid record May heatwave

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  • Post last modified:8 June 2026
Private water company leaves thousands dry amid record May heatwave

One privately-owned water company left thousands of people in south-east England dry and thirsty this week. This comes amid one of Britain’s hottest-ever May heatwaves. South East Water, which covers much of Kent, left over 8,000 people without any tap water. The company claimed that nearby reservoirs at Whitstable were at a “critical level” due to “extremely high demand”. The company’s six-figure CEO David Hinton stepped down from his position in early May over consistent failures, shortages and outages but will remain in-post to allow an orderly transition over the summer period. That and, presumably, to keep earning a slice of…

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